AGORA – Saving the forests of the Mediterranean

We all know about tropical rain forests and fir trees from Northern Europe. But when we think about the Mediterranean, our thoughts turn to beaches, not trees. Now thinking about the forests around the Mediterranean is becoming a top priority because this region is one of the hotspots where the effects of global warming will be exceptionally high.

AGORA – Saving the forests of the Mediterranean

We all know about tropical rain forests and fir trees from Northern Europe. But when we think about the Mediterranean, our thoughts turn to beaches, not trees. Now thinking about the forests around the Mediterranean is becoming a top priority because this region is one of the hotspots where the effects of global warming will be exceptionally high.

Forests are especially sensitive to climate
change and they are the most important
ecological structure in the Mediterranean
region. Not only do they play a role as an
energy source and in maintaining biodiversity
but they are also indispensable in maintaining
soil and water resources, which are the most
important natural assets in the region, says
Marc Palahi of the European Forest Institute,
the coordinator of the project. “Many of the
forests in Morocco and Tunisia have degraded
in recent years due to climate change and
local people cutting down trees.”

AGORA, a three-year project funded with close
to € 1 million by the European Commission,
started at the beginning of 2010 and will
end at the end of 2012. Six institutions from
Morocco, Turkey, Portugal, Tunisia, Italy and
France joined the project. “The main aim of
this project was to improve the scientific
knowledge and capabilities in Morocco
and Tunisia, with regard to sustainable
management of their forests,” says Palahi.
The project does not focus on the science
itself, but on its implementation. “We are not
training people in how to manage forests,
we are preparing the scientists to be able to
instruct decision makers and managers in
how to manage a forest,” says Palahi.

An important research capability that must
be developed is the understanding of how
forests can cope with climate change. “We
have evidence that the temperature in North
Africa has risen on average two degrees
Celsius, and rainfall is also decreasing and
changing its pattern,” says Palahi. One of the
questions is whether tree species will be able
to adapt to these accelerated changes. “We
don’t know yet, and we need to understand
the genetic component very well,” says Palahi.

A second need is the development of new
“tools” specific to the Mediterranean environment. Unlike northern forests, which
are mainly exploited for their timber,
forests in the Mediterranean are much
more multifunctional. “We have a lot of
different products, from cork to mushrooms
to aromatic plants. Forests also play an important role in the control of land erosion and
water resources, and therefore we need a
new approach to forest management,” says
Palahi.

Germany is the role model for forest
management, but their techniques are not
readily applicable to the Mediterranean. “The
challenge is to change this paradigm of forest
management and really address the nature
and specificities of the forests in our region.”

But the need for expertise developed in
Europe will remain very important. Therefore,
a key role of AGORA is the stimulation
of “twinning” between the best scientific
organizations in Europe with institutions in
Morocco and Tunisia. And here the project has
been very successful. “Agora has emerged as
a dynamic platform allowing communication
among scientists from all these countries,”
says Palahi.

AGORA has been so successful in setting
up a scientific infrastructure that the
European Commission approved a follow-up
programme, called FORESTERRA (Enhancing
forest research in the Mediterranean through
improved coordination and integration).
Started at the beginning of 2012 it involves
the other Mediterranean countries.

Pahali stresses the importance of such a
programme: “North Africa is now facing
climate problems that we will have in Spain,
France and Italy in the coming 20-30 years.”

The project proved its worth in Morocco and
Tunisia, and for these countries it was also
an eye-opener, according to Palahi. “We
found the good young scientists and for the
first time 22-23 year olds are going abroad
to do research. For them it´s an amazing
opportunity.”